Money Time: Canadian Banking Edition

Hey Canadian Friends - this post is for you!

Since the internet is flooded with specific advice and accounts for our American friends.. here's one for us!

 What bank accounts do you use? We bank with TD Canada Trust, it's easy & automated, they have great hours, and works well for us. But in anticipation of some international travels, we had to make some changes.

Yesterday, we upgraded our regular account to the TD Select Service Account {This is not a sales pitch/sponsored - we really just did this}. Here's why:

• Comes with a FREE small safety deposit box {we had just opened one for valuables!}
• No annual fee for their First Class Travel Rewards Visa {we already had this too!}
• No international ATM fees! {Stupid $5 every time we take out cash would kill us!}
• Free cheques/drafts/US account... some other stuff that we use less

Total monthly cost: $29/month. Ouch, I know. But if you keep $5000 or more in your chequing account {we don't usually - we utilize our savings account} it's free.

Since we were already paying for all of the additional services, it will actually save us money in the long run.
And, the bank refunded our deposit box payment $94.00 and Visa refunded our annual payment $120 so I almost made $214.50 yesterday. All for going to the bank!

I'm still trying to learn more about the best way to do our finances on the road - but this was a great start. Any other international-banking tips and tricks?

*Yep, I spelled cheques with a 'que' because this is a Canadian money post. 

I'll have checks when I get to the States.